The invention presented here relates to a joint for holding together detachable parts of a spacecraft, particularly during launching of the spacecraft. More specifically, the invention concerns a joint comprising a number of clamps, which by means of an encircling brace are pressed against flanges on the detachable components and thereby holding them together.
Joint devices for connecting, without any significant relative movement, detachable parts of a spacecraft, for example a carrier rocket and a satellite, are important structural units for absorbing the forces that arise between the said parts during launching of the spacecraft.
In the patent document SE 511 762 a flange joint on a space rocket is described. The flange joint has an axially directed guide on a first flange, and a corresponding slot in the second flange for absorbing shearing loads.
The joint devices must be low-weight and be designed for very high reliability because of the extremely high cost of launching, as well as the impossibility of correcting any faults that may arise when the craft has left the ground. Low weight is particularly important for the spacecraft""s satellite part.
Spacecraft and their detachable parts are subjected to loads, for example moments of bending and torsion, vibrations and pressure. When the spacecraft is subjected to, for example, a moment of bending, it produces a tension load on one side of the spacecraft and a thrust load on the opposite side of the spacecraft. On the side where the tension load arises, forces are produced that act to press in towards the spacecraft the part of the satellite part closest to the joint.
The purpose of the invention is to solve one or more of the above-described problems. This is achieved with a device as in claim 1.
By equipping the joint with a clamped flange which has an acute angle directed in towards the craft, the flange is obstructed from moving outwards.
The accompanying sub-claims describe additional preferred embodiments according to the invention